In re Perkin's Estate
| Decision Date | 23 June 1925 |
| Citation | 115 Or. 178,236 P. 1064 |
| Parties | IN RE PERKINS' ESTATE. v. MEYERS. KAY, STATE TREASURER, |
| Court | Oregon Supreme Court |
In Banc.
Appeal from Circuit Court, Union County; J. W. Knowles, Judge.
In the matter of the estate of Henry F. Perkins, deceased, F. L Meyers, administrator. Thos. B. Kay, as State Treasurer filed a petition in the county court to determine the inheritance tax due to the state. From a decree favorable to the administrator, petitioner appeals. Affirmed.
Frank S. Sever, of Portland (I. H. Van Winkle, Atty Gen., on the brief), for appellant.
Robert S. Eakin of La Grande, C. T. Haas, of Portland, and George T Cochran, of La Grande (Cochran & Eberhard, of La Grande, on the brief), for respondent.
Henry F. Perkins, a resident of Union county, Or., died September 9, 1923, leaving an estate composed partly of property in Oregon and partly of shares of stock in corporations, organized and existing under the laws of the states of New York, Missouri, Indiana, New Jersey, Minnesota, and Illinois. Pending the settlement of the estate, the plaintiff, state treasurer, applied to the county court of Union county to determine the inheritance tax due to the state under section 1191 et seq., Or. L. In his petition he concedes that the following deductions should be made before computing the tax:
Federal estate tax
............................................
$11,463 93
Federal income tax due the date of decedent's death
...............
881 88
Oregon state income tax
...........................................
828 73
Miscellaneous claims
...............................................
74 26
Sums paid in settlement of damage claims against said
estate ...
10,750 00
Court costs and expenses of administration
......................
3,822 07
Administrator's fee
............................................
10,375 00
Attorney's fee
.................................................
15,000 00
Funeral charges
.................................................
2,495 53
__________
Total
......................................................
$55,664 40
The parties are agreed that the estate was valued at $479,147 gross. The administrator avows that the deduction should be made as already noted, but alleges that, in order to secure the transfer of certificate of stock in the corporations above mentioned in the sister states, he was compelled to and did pay transfer taxes levied there amounting in the aggregate to $14,969.78, and he contends that this amount should also be deducted, and that the computation of inheritance tax should be made on the resulting net value of $408,785.82. There was also a dispute about the dates from which interest should be calculated. The administrator avers that there were sundry claims against the decedent for damages growing out of injuries arising from an automobile accident, that considerable litigation arose in that matter, and that the claims were not settled until about October 27, 1924, when the amount to be paid was fixed at $10,750, whereas, if they had been allowed in full, there would have been no estate upon which an inheritance tax could have been levied. There were findings and a decree favorable to the defendant administrator, and the plaintiff appeals.
It is said, in section 1191, Or. L., that:
"All property within the jurisdiction of the state, and any interest therein, whether belonging to the inhabitants of this state or not, and whether tangible or intangible, which shall pass or vest * * * by statutes or inheritance of this or any other state * * * shall be and is subject to a tax at the rate hereinafter specified in section 1192, to be paid to the treasurer of the state for the use of the state."
Section 1192, Or. L., provides in substance, that after deducting an exemption of $10,000 there shall be certain rates charged upon any estate whatever which shall be in full for any inheritance tax upon property passing to a husband, wife, or any lineal descendants or ascendants of the decedent. A further paragraph in that section provides for a rate of taxation in addition to that already stated where the property goes to collateral kindred. Section 1193, Or. L., provides:
"All taxes imposed by this act shall take effect at and accrue upon the death of the decedent, or donor, and shall be due and payable at the expiration of eight months from such death, except as otherwise provided in this act."
The remainder of the section has reference to devises, bequests, legacies, and the like which are limited, conditioned, dependent, or determinable upon the happening of any contingency or future event, on account of which the true value thereof cannot be ascertained before the tax has become due. This last proviso has no reference to the case in hand because it is one of intestacy.
As to interest, it is provided in section 1197, Or. L., that, if the tax is paid within 8 months from the accruing thereof, a discount of 5 per cent. shall be deducted therefrom.
"If such tax is not paid within eight months from the accruing thereof, interest shall be charged and collected thereon at the rate of eight per centum per annum from the time the tax is due and payable, unless by reason of claims upon the estate, necessary litigation, or other unavoidable delay, such tax cannot be determined and paid as herein provided, in which case interest at the rate of six per centum per annum shall be charged upon such tax from the time from the accruing thereof until the cause of such delay is removed, after which eight per centum shall be charged."
The matters at issue between the parties are two: (1) Whether the amount paid as transfer taxes in the other states should be deducted from the estate here; and (2) the matter of computation of interest. The circuit court determined that the transfer taxes in the other states should be deducted; that the interest should be computed at the rate of 6 per cent. from May 9, 1924, that being 8 months after the death of the decedent, until October 27, 1924, when the claims were settled; and that the rate from that time forward should be 8 per cent.
There have been many decisions in various courts of the country on the subject of the computation of inheritance taxes, but in our judgment the questions here involved are set at rest by an opinion of the Supreme Court of the United States delivered June 1, 1925 in the case of Frick v Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, 45 S.Ct. 603, 69 L.Ed. 1058, not yet officially reported. In that case Henry C. Frick lived in Pennsylvania and died there,...
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